$18M Grant Funds Integrated Services in 5 Schools

Five NCP neighborhood groups and their school partners in December won a four-year, $18 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to transform local schools with world-class health, education, social services and economic supports. The initiative, known as ISS, for Integrated Services in Schools, is part of a national demonstration that has already rolled out in five New Mexico schools.

The program focuses on students in grades 6 through 8 – along with their families and surrounding communities – because this is the age when young people face life-changing choices about joining gangs, using drugs or becoming sexually active. By providing an intensive array of school and community supports, the ISS program will help these students stay healthy and pursue academic and creative interests.

Gara LaMarche (center), president of The Atlantic Philanthropies, with members of Orozco School's new mariachi band.

Patrick Barry

The five communities and their schools began planning nearly a year ago, using start-up grants from Atlantic and The Chicago Community Trust to convene 300 representatives from the schools, communities and health institutions. The schools and neighborhoods are:

Ames Middle School (Logan Square)
Marquette Elementary (Chicago Lawn)
Orozco Elementary (Pilsen)
Perspectives-Calumet Middle School (Auburn Gresham)
Reavis Elementary (Grand Boulevard and Kenwood)

"It's been a real big plus for us," says Michael Johnson, principal of Reavis, 834 E. 50th Street. "The goal is educating children, building citizens, building their capacity to navigate in the world." Johnson says ISS is helping his young faculty build skills and connect with the neighborhood. "It has already begun to build that bridge. We had parents fully engaged in the planning process with our faculty. It was the first time for many of our parents to get to know our newer teachers."

Integrated programming
Coordinated by LISC/Chicago, the project will include construction of health centers inside each of the schools. The clinics will target 6th-, 7th- and 8th graders and will serve their family members as well, offering on-site clinical services, health education and social services.

The program also extends the school day to provide extra educational and enrichment programs, and offers supportive services such as mentoring for students and financial counseling for families.

Atlantic Philanthropies seeks to demonstrate that integrating all these services creates a safety net for young teens and strengthens their chances of success in high school, college and beyond. Stronger schools, in turn, can become focal points for larger community improvements, which is why NCP lead agencies are central partners in all five efforts.

First projects underway
Design and construction of the health clinics is underway, with the first services planned for the fall of 2008. In the meantime, the five schools are implementing the first projects from the detailed plans they created last year.

Reavis Elementary has tapped coaches from the Chicago New Teachers Center so that its middle school faculty can move from self-contained to departmentalized classrooms. Changing classes in middle school is considered a “best practice” because it exposes students to teachers with specialized knowledge of math, science and other subjects. "Kids felt they were being treated more maturely (in the new setup)" says Rebecca Janowitz of the Quad Communities Development Corporation, the local partner agency.

Reavis used its fall report card pickup day to survey parents about their children's health needs and to offer screenings, flu shots and registration for the state’s All Kids health insurance program. "I thought our early action projects turned out great,” said Janowitz. “People are getting used to each other and building some relationships. We feel like we laid a lot of the groundwork" for the health clinic and integrated services to come.

At Chicago Lawn's Marquette Elementary, 6550 S. Richmond, hand sanitizers are being installed in every classroom to help both teachers and students ward off colds and flu. Also, a group of 12 school staff and parent leaders will travel to Sacramento to see a model home visiting program and "generate energy" to replicate it at Marquette, says David McDowell of the Southwest Organizing Project.

The Logan Square Neighborhood Association and Ames Middle School have contracted with the Chicago Women's Health Center to provide comprehensive sex education to 27 classes of 7th- and 8th-grade students. (Details to come.)

Perspectives Calumet Middle School and the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) are bringing interim health services to the school, 8131 S. May, while the clinic is being built. The school hired a Chicago Health Corps volunteer to coordinate services, help families apply for health insurance and guest-teach in the school's Healthy Lifestyles classes.

"The teachers are really easy to get in touch with; they just welcomed me in," says the Health Corps' Chase Woodward. "They're coming up to me and asking how the clinic's coming along and what [interim] services are available." The University of Chicago's mobile pediatrics van has been out to provide exams and shots, while dental and eye care are in the works.

GADC has been approved as an All Kids application agent to work directly with families as they apply for health insurance. "We're able to see them from the very first step to the very last step," says Woodward. "If an application gets sent back I'm able to know what the issue was and help the client finish it." All Kids reimbursements for services are key to the financial sustainability of the health clinics, so making sure families' applications make it all the way through the process is a must.

All five schools are also working with nearby Centers for Working Families, which offer employment services, financial counseling and free income tax preparation services. Many families qualify for the Earned Income Credit, which can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to tax refunds.

The ISS-Chicago project is a joint effort of LISC/Chicago, the five school-community teams and the Chicago Public Schools. It is overseen by the Chicago Committee, a group of civic leaders and philanthropic organizations that will help recruit partners and raise the additional funds. The project’s fiscal agent is The Chicago Community Trust.

Please click here to download a press release about ISS.

Click here to read Atlantic President Gara LaMarche's overview of his trip to Orozco in late March.